by Terri Kelly Barta

An animal has appeared to have clawed bark from a tree in the backyard of Darrell and Carol Odegaard’s residence on Forest Street. The claw marks go up about 15 ft.

Early Monday morning, September 15, Odegaard walked into his back yard expecting to pick up fallen apples on the ground. Although there are usually a dozen apples or more on the ground, there were none. A nearby Linden tree had claw marks on it. The bark was stripped from the lower part of the tree and followed upward to the upper part of the tree.

Odegaard said the side door on his garage was nudged open, also. Nothing was missing from the garage.

Odegaard, a retired photographer, took some photos of the tree. One night a few weeks ago, Odegaard said he was sitting on his deck in the dark and he saw an animal that was bigger than a dog peek around the garage at him. He said the animal started backing up and Odegaard said he backed into the house not willing to take the animal on. He has no idea what he saw, but he doesn’t think it was a cat or a dog.

About that same time, on Sunday, Aug. 24 about 6:00 p.m., Deb Bergstrom, Ransom County Public Health Nurse, said she saw an animal that looked like a mountain lion traveling along the fence in her back yard. Her back yard sits above the Sheyenne River. She also has said that the animal was bigger than a cat or dog.

“It had a black tip on its tail,” said Bergstrom.

The only report that city police had was that a newspaper carrier who was concerned about safety and had heard rumors of a lion sighting wanted to know what to do if she encountered one.

     Should citizens of Lisbon be worried? Not according to Greg Link, assistant chief, wildlife division, North Dakota Game and Fish. Locals might remember Link as a former Lisbon resident.

“We don’t discount reports of lions,” said Link. “And we do want to hear about them.”

However, he added that they have never found any breeding lions in eastern North Dakota. That is not to say that some are not passing through, he said. “They just don’t choose this area to live in.”

Lions are secretive and shy, according to Link. They prefer the steep and deep habitat in western North Dakota near Medora for setting up housekeeping, reproducing, etc.

“Cities are not a place that lions want to stay,” said Link. “Its too noisy and lions like wide open spaces.”

Most likely any lion sighted a couple of weeks ago has moved on out of the area, according to Link.  They can put on a lot of miles in a day or two. They normally do not attack people without provocation. They do attack deer. They could be attracted by bird feeders and deer feeders. Its best to keep cats and dogs in at night if there is a lion sighting.

The North Dakota Game and Fish (NDGF) Department has a response plan in place if there is a situation where a mountain lion is in a stand-off with a farm animal or person. They advise people who spot mountain lions to go inside and call local police. The police investigate and if necessary call in the NDGF for further investigation. It is always good to take photographs of tracks, animals, etc. Think safety of people first. If someone finds tracks, photograph them and then cover them with something like a coffee can until investigators arrive.

If a mountain lion appears, don’t run! Stand tall and make yourself appear as large as possible, wave your hands, shout, throw sticks. Make it look like you are a formidable opponent.

If a person has encountered a mountain lion out in a rural area, that person has the right to protect themselves and shoot the animal. Shooting is illegal in town so is not advised. Use a common sense approach.

Most likely any mountain lion that was visiting this area last week is long gone.